Nets and Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark acknowledged that with the team's 7-18 record to start the season, they are "struggling to draw fans in their third season in Brooklyn," according to O'Keeffe & Vinton of the N.Y. DAILY NEWS. Attendance has "dropped dramatically at Nets home games this season," as they currently rank 28th in the league. The team has "provided about 100 free tickets to eight home games this season, which is just a fraction of Barclays Center’s 17,732-seat capacity for NBA games." The Nets are "averaging 14,524 fans per game," more than 2,500 less than '14-15 and "about 2,700 less than the previous season." But those numbers "don’t tell the whole story." Yormark said that he is "especially concerned about the roughly 1,000 people per game who purchase tickets to games but fail to show up." That is "not just a lot of empty seats -- it is also opportunities lost in concession sales and other revenue streams." The Nets will have to "rebuild through free agency, since the team traded" its '16 and '18 first-round draft picks. Yormark said that he "didn’t think the Nets pitiful record and Barclays’ empty seats will persuade free agents to sign elsewhere." He said that free agents will be "drawn to the team’s youthful core," and its $50M Sunset Park training facility, scheduled to open in February, "will attract top players." Meanwhile, Yormark said that Barclays Center has "offered 100 free tickets via Play-by-Play to two Islanders home games this season as well." The Islanders are "near the top of the standings in the NHL’s Metropolitan Division, but attendance is down following the team’s move from the 16,170-seat Nassau Coliseum to Barclays Center, which can accommodate 15,795 fans for hockey." The Islanders are "drawing 12,727 fans per game," about 2,600 less than their "last season on Long Island, but the news might not be as bad as it seems." An NHL source said that ticket revenue is "up 35% through 17 home games" over the entire '14-15 season (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 12/18).
